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The Jabo Sword.
It may not be the Uicheon Sword, Wudang's legendary weapon, but among the famed blades that rank in this world, it easily places within the top one hundred when you line them up from the front.
'Jabo Sword—meaning Purple Treasure Sword.'
It is a sword passed down through the generations to the current Wudang Sect Leader, and its most striking feature is its deep violet blade. The next notable trait is that the blade is shaped like the cross character for ten, not the character for day, and its thickness is considerably greater than one would expect.
Is it truly just a purple treasure sword? Is there no other meaning to the Jabo Sword? There is no other meaning.
It has no special property like Wudang's inner energy flowing into it especially well or the mysteries of the Taiji seeping through; it is simply beautiful to behold, quite sharp, and durable.
As a treasure sword, clashing its blade against a far larger heavy sword would often shatter the heavy sword, and it was a symbolic weapon handed down from a sect leader several generations ago.
'The truth is, that is the scabbard.'
The Jabo Sword is a sword, yet not a sword.
'Where in the world is there purple metal? Unless it is rusted, perhaps.'
What iron in the world could bear a violet hue? There is a legend that a disciple of Zhang Sanfeng long ago caught a monster, carved its bones, and made a sword, and while that legend is true, the facts must be made clear.
What was carved from bone is the blade, and what was made by carefully refining its steel-like shell is the scabbard. After catching a colossal centipede monster called the Dark Purple Centipede, its violet shell was fashioned into a scabbard and fitted over the blade.
Inside the sword, there is a sword.
To be precise, what people believe to be the blade is the scabbard.
'It was made so that it cannot be drawn except with the Sword Control Art.'
The arrangement made by a senior Taoist for the sake of one who would later use the Taiji Wisdom Sword finally came to light in the hands of the Taiji Sword Empress after three or four sixty-year cycles had passed. The Jabo Sword reveals its true form the moment the true qi of the Taiji Wisdom Sword is infused into it, unveiling an ink-black identical to the bone of the Dark Purple Centipede.
—The seal of this sword shall be released when a great calamity befalls Murim, and when a hero destined to save Wudang appears.
The tradition secretly passed down to the sect leaders was the plain truth.
It was only because no one had mastered the Taiji Wisdom Sword, and no one had discovered where its secret manual was hidden, that the Jabo Sword had been used, sheath and all, as the symbol of the sect leader for hundreds of years.
A weapon naturally only holds its true value when used by the one who needs it.
'Since this is the weapon the Taiji Sword Empress will use in the future, it is only right that Sagong Hee uses it now.'
A weapon has its master, and the existence most suited to be the master of the Jabo Sword is Sagong Hee. No matter how much Taoist Hyeongi holds onto it, it is nothing more than a lump of purple centipede skin, so I must take the Jabo Sword.
"Hand it over."
"You cannot!"
Even if it is a divine artifact of Wudang, for the first time since meeting Taoist Hyeongi, a clash of opinions had arisen between us. Even Taoist Hyeongi, who would usually keel over at my word, showed no intention of backing down.
"Do you dare disobey the command of your Grandmaster simply because it is a sword passed down the line of sect leaders?!"
"Grrk, Grandmaster Mubung! Please, withdraw your wrath!!"
"Silence! I seek to fulfill my duty for the sake of my great cause, yet you try to defy the natural order with worldly logic!"
A male preening to impress a female is simply nature's way. A man wants to score points with a woman and bring a gift, but the resistance is fierce.
— I have never seen such a famous sword before, my lord. What could I possibly do for you after receiving such a fine present? ...Please, pierce me with that magnificent sword you carry.
— Try infusing your true qi into it.
— True qi? ...Oh my, it is too amazing... I feel like I am going to faint, ah-heung?!
Engorging.
Just imagining Sagong Hee's delighted reaction to receiving the gift made my lower body ache. I wanted to take the Jabo Sword right then and there, but Taoist Hyeongi seemed to have no intention of surrendering it to me meekly.
"Hey, you said it is a treasure sword passed down to the sect leader. Am I going to be the sect leader?"
"Grandmaster!! Right now... I cannot give it to you right now! N-no. Let me use it for at least three more months, and then I shall give it to you."
"Right now? Three months? Why?"
"...A major event will take place in Hubei Province before long. It is an event where the rising stars of the orthodox martial factions gather."
"Rising stars? ...Ah! You do not mean the Nine Dragons and Six Phoenixes?!"
"It is the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering."
The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. The greatest martial tournament of the Orthodox Faction, held every four years, where nine dragons and six phoenixes are contested.
Warriors under the age of twenty-nine, the finest from each sect and clan, fight to earn the title of Dragon or Phoenix, and those who gain a title here are hailed as the rising stars who will lead the next generation of Murim.
Most peak experts or the Hundred Great Masters of various sects once held the names of Dragon or Phoenix, and this distinction applies regardless of being righteous, evil, or demonic.
'Could it be?'
I could see the youthful appearances of countless young masters I remembered. Especially since the cutoff is before thirty, I could also see the fresh faces of new female masters before they are broken by the unlucky number.
'A flower banquet.'
I abandoned the thought of taking the Jabo Sword immediately. How could I stop a man from wanting to hold his head high in front of others? Besides, I had already taken one token of the sect leader from Taoist Hyeongi.
'I not only used the sect leader's robe as a book wrapper, but also as a mat when I first did it with Sagong Hee.'
Thanks to that, Sagong Hee's maiden blood and love fluids were soaked copiously into the Wudang Sect Leader's robe.
Afterwards, Sagong Hee, claiming she would do laundry, turned it into a rag, and it is now being used well as a cleaning cloth for my room. What Sagong Hee is wearing is a spare she received to wear.
"The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, huh.... Does Wudang have anyone entering?"
"Yes. My immediate successor is scheduled to go."
"Then is that bastard going to use the Jabo Sword?"
"Th-that is not the case. It is simply so that I, before the other sect leaders and clan heads...."
"Enough!"
I thundered, infusing my voice with inner energy. My abandoning the thought was one thing, but I still needed to take another sword in place of the Jabo Sword. At my roar, Taoist Hyeongi flinched and bowed his head.
"Your Taiji Wisdom Sword has barely reached the first rank, yet you dare think of leaving the Secret Vault! If you wish to stand proudly as the sect leader before others, master the Taiji Wisdom Sword first!"
"B-but I am the sect leader! I had initially planned to halt my closed-door training for a time in anticipation of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering! I might not have known before, but now that I have learned the gathering is happening...."
"Things ran fine without you, did they not? Hyeon-cheol practically had the sect leader's seat locked down and was doing well, right?"
"What?"
It had already been five months since Taoist Hyeongi entered the Secret Vault. Wudang, which I suspected would gradually decline, had instead grown even more robust under the leadership of Taoist Hyeoncheol.
"Your disciples really became a lot stronger. I was worried the sect might decline after sealing itself due to the plague, but they surprisingly did well? They completely settled the aftermath of the seal in just half a year."
"G-Grandmaster?"
"Perhaps it is not you or me who should have the Jabo Sword, but Hyeon-cheol."
The average martial prowess of the warriors had risen, and Taoist Hyeoncheol's own martial realm had improved day by day. In contrast, Taoist Hyeongi only grew more senile without becoming much stronger. Even Sagong Hee had mastered the Taiji Wisdom Sword up to the third rank, while the sect leader had only mastered the first.
"I showed him once because he pleaded that he did not have much time left... tsk tsk. I should not have given you false hope. I showed you a martial art beyond your level. I apologize."
"Grandmaster! I beg you, show me just one more time!"
Taoist Hyeongi pointed at the ceiling and pleaded for a demonstration. The formula of the Taiji Wisdom Sword I had left behind was written on the ceiling, but he could not master it through the formula alone.
"No. Why should I swing a sword in front of you?"
Every time I demonstrate a martial art, I have to release just as much boiling yang energy. If my partner were Sagong Hee, I could show her as many times as needed, then slam and rinse, but demonstrating before Taoist Hyeongi was not even worth a pointless jacking-off into the void.
"I beg of you! Please grant your teaching to your junior!! Grandmaster Mubung!"
"Haa. This really is...."
The corner of my lip twitched. But I concealed my inner thoughts and covered my mouth with my hand.
"Fine. I shall show you. Bring me four good swords."
"Four... did you say?"
"Yes. Right now. You must bring them before my mind changes."
Slap! I kicked up a cloud of dust from the floor and turned my body toward the opposite side of the Secret Vault. Hiding in a secret passage even the Wudang Sect Leader, Taoist Hyeongi, did not know about, I waited for him to bring the swords.
"......Hyeon-ta, Hyeon-ta, are you here?!"
Grunt work is always for the underlings. I waited leisurely until Taoist Hyeonta arrived carrying four swords.
"The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering."
That it would be held in Wudang, of all places.
* * *
"Alliance Leader, I cannot accept this."
The man holding a white feather fan roughly laid a single sheet of paper before a middle-aged man in a green robe. The two large characters stamped on the white paper were Wudang.
"What do you mean, you cannot accept it?"
"It is a region where a plague spread. It is a place where remnants of the Demonic Cult came and went. And yet you choose it as the venue to host the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering."
Half a year ago, a great plague swept through Wudang Mountain. Though the plague has now completely subsided without a single patient remaining, basic human psychology would dictate choosing another option besides Hubei Province if one had the choice.
But the Murim Alliance Leader did not. Instead, he aggressively pushed for Hubei Province, where the Wudang Sect was located.
"Do you not all think it is a lovely place to view the Yangtze River? What is the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, in the end? If we fight, a Blood Calamity will occur, so is it not a proxy war where we have our disciples fight for us?"
"Alliance Leader. Those words will dampen the fighting spirit of many orthodox martial artists."
"Did I say something wrong? When peak and higher realm masters clash, one of the two ends up dead. But would not having the successors, who are on average at a first-rate level, fight each other end with them merely getting injured?"
"I am not asking about the original intent of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. Do not change the subject. I am asking why you specifically chose Hubei Province."
"Tch, it is no use. I just cannot get through to a man from the Jegal Clan."
The Murim Alliance Leader clicked his tongue and pointed to a map spread wide in the center of the room. Countless flags representing various sects were stuck on the map depicting the entire Central Plains.
"If the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering were a gathering of the Orthodox Faction alone, I might not know, but do not the Unorthodox Faction and the Demonic Cult also attend? Then we must be considerate of them. They can follow the Yangtze River straight down, or go upstream against it; in any case, can they not all gather within three months' time?"
"And what I am saying is, does it absolutely have to be Hubei, Wuhan?"
"Stop this. This is a matter already discussed with the government."
At the word "government," the man with the white feather fan flinched in surprise. Without his knowledge, the Alliance Leader had already settled everything with the government and the Imperial Palace.
"The government granted permission surprisingly well. For Hubei Province."
"Rather, the government actively recommended it. They said that since the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is just around the corner, if we must choose a location, they wanted it to be Hubei."
When the righteous, evil, and demonic factions gather in one place, the one who suffers the most heartburn is undoubtedly the lord of that region. If the gathering is set for Hubei Province, the governor ruling Hubei is constantly worried about when and where the martial artists will brawl like thugs.
In particular, while the young loaches and sparrows, unable to suppress their youthful vigor, gather in one place and squabble over who is better, the ones who suffer the damage are the inn owners, their guests, and the civilians.
That is why the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is held within the territories of the Nine Sects and One Gang. Unlike the Eight Great Families, who are mostly settled within cities, the factions of righteous, evil, and demonic paths gather at sects primarily located on mountains. The intention is that even if fights break out, they will occur within the sect grounds and cause less damage to the civilian populace.
"What on earth is your intention? For you to overrule my opinion and select Hubei, there must be a factor of equal importance. What is the reason for you to kick away the proposal of the Alliance's strategist and deliberately choose an unverified location?"
"Do you remember the matter of the Paeng Clan head? About nine months ago."
"Paeng Iwang...?"
"Yes. The Paeng Clan's daughter entered a trade marriage with an escort bureau to save the clan head. That escort bureau at the time possessed a Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill intended to save a Demonic Cult master, but the young bureau head, for the sake of his beloved, handed the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill to the Paeng Clan. Ultimately, the Demonic Cult master attacked Wudang before dying, and that led to the spread of the plague and the sealing of Wudang."
"That is already an issue I reported to you."
From the Demonic Cult's perspective, a man who was an errand boy fell in love and ruined everything. The Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill meant to trap the Paeng Clan fell into the Paeng Clan's hands, and all the funding lines flowing into the Demonic Cult were seized by the Paeng Clan.
In inverse proportion to the Paeng Clan's prosperity, Wudang's strength declined, but fortunately, thanks to the quick wits of Taoist Hyeoncheol, who stepped in as acting sect leader, Wudang grew stronger day by day. The Murim Alliance Leader flicked the flag of the Wudang Sect, which was planted on Wudang Mountain, with his finger.
"You intentionally chose the land where the Demonic Cult played their tricks as the venue for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering? No way...."
"...Yes. This is a demonstration against the Demonic Cult."
The Murim Alliance Leader clenched his fist.
"The despicable Demonic Cult horde who cast aside human decency and spread plague. We shall expose their true nature to the whole world at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering."
"And the evidence?"
"Evidence? Heh heh, Strategist."
The Murim Alliance Leader, Dokgo Ja-yeong, snapped the flag of the Demonic Cult.
"If they do not come, would that not be as good as admitting to the crime they committed?"